“Do you know someone who wants to start their own business? There are things they need to know…”

We help a lot of start-up business owners and having been there and done it ourselves, we know what is involved to get a successful enterprise off the back of the envelope.

WARNING… The majority of business advisers will most probably tell you that you have a good idea. That’s great, just what you want hear, right? Be careful, that might be more about their interest and not yours, they may well be positioning themselves at the head of the queue to take your money rather than to contribute to your success. You might ask them how many potential clients have they advised not to start a business and they have not billed for that advice.

To be frank, some people just shouldn’t go into business. Before you quit your day job, there are some points you may like to consider and while we can’t list them all, here is food for thought.

Get your finances in order…Too many people start a business thinking they will be earning a good income from the early days, that rarely happens. You are more likely to find the opposite is true. Aim to have enough money in the bank to get you through the next twelve months so that you cover your living expenses in the event the business does not make what you predict it will. Ensure your personal credit record is strong. Pay off your debts, or at least as many as you can so you can start your enterprise as cleanly as possible.

Do your research… Be sure you’ve researched your product or service offering. Test it with as many people as possible and be absolutely certain that a market for it exists. If a market does exist how will you create an audience within it and what unique selling combination have you got that will persuade people away from their current supplier? Unless they have created businesses, don’t rely on family and friends for advice, get an outside perspective to analyse what it is you plan to do. If they haven’t been there, done it and usually have the ‘scars’ to show for it, think twice before staking your future on what they say.

Write a realistic plan…You may think you have a great idea, your friends and family may say you are a genius, but you are going to need more than a brainwave and enthusiasm to move forward. Most plans are more often fund-raising exercises for a bank or a template for you to fill in the blanks. There are many self-help business, legal and financial books on the market that can take you step-by-step through the process of creating a plan and of course there are lots of professionals who can guide you, just make sure you choose the right ones. There is no replacement for getting among the business community and asking for help. Visit networking organisations like BNI and you’ll find just about every opportunity for guidance and people willing to give you their time to point you in the right direction. But when you do prepare your plan, regardless of the numbers and distance from here to a far off point in time, it has to tell you what you need to do now, in the next 7 days; it’s pointless having a plan that says where you want to be in the future if it doesn’t tell you what you need to do now in order to make that happen.

Who says you can’t work for someone else while you get your own business under way?… Trying your idea in your spare time while still working at your regular job just might help you get started while keeping your main source of income. It will give you the chance to work on your business plan, develop the brand, test the product or service and have a long hard look at what might truly be involved in starting out on your own. However, be sure you are not breaking any contractual, moral or ethical obligation you may have with your employer and don’t try to build your business on their time.

Invest in help!…The greatest proportion of knowledge required to run your business has little to do with the product or service you sell, it is all to do with running the company. Give plenty of thought to the support you will need to get your idea to market and do not skimp on the cost of professional services which may make all the difference between your success and failure. Once again speak with people who have been their and done it.

At the get-go you may be doing it all yourself… You will be CEO, MD, FD, sales manager, head of marketing, coffee maker and washer-up. In the early days be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in, in fact always be prepared to get stuck in. But here’s the thing to be wary of, while you are working in your business, who is working on it? A great habit to adopt from the outset is to set aside at least half a day per week to work on your business, but the thing you are going to need to work out is what working on the business really means. If you are a decorator, doing your own bookkeeping, building your own web site or meeting the bank manager have nothing to do with ‘working on your business’ they are all elements of working in it. Get help from people who know the difference between the two.

Learn fast and manage time… You will not have the luxury of sitting back at someone else’s expense while you figure out how the stapler works. You have the same 24 hours in a day as Richard Branson and Bill Gates, use them wisely. Speak to as many people in your field of business as possible and learn from them. Study your competitors, their pricing, packaging, advertising, marketing and PR. Who are they? What makes them tick? How do they reach their market? How good is their brand and how long did it take to develop? Information is all around you, grab it and use it but make sure you are doing so at speed. Do not let procrastination and inertia kill your enterprise before it has had a chance to fly.

Cash flow is king…You may convince yourself that a big office and shiny desk will impress people and get sales but put that ego back in its box and understand this, nobody who matters cares. In the first year of business invest money more in professional advice than on toys and later on you will have the wealth to have all the toys you can imagine. For instance hire a proactive accountant and they will advise you on cash flow, payment terms, revenue collection and spending. Get it wrong and no matter how good your offering, you may cut off the very oxygen that sustains the lifeblood of your business. When you tap into great advice you may pay for that now, but it will keep paying you back way into the future and in ways you may never have imagined.

Love what you do…When you love what you do you have what we call a ‘seven day weekend’. But if you are not passionate about the business you start you may, in truth, simply be buying an expensive job. Think hard before you embark on that dream business. Seek out and listen to great advice. Ultimately, the change you seek may be more to do with your attitude to the job you do than the colour of the grass you imagine is greener elsewhere. But, if you are not afraid of hard work, if you have a good idea for which you know there is a market, if you have the cash to sustain yourself for a year, if you can sell well, if you have access to great advisors, if you have a network of support and you are 100% determined, good news, you may well be on your way.

On behalf of all at Mentor, whether you are in business or just starting out, we wish you a truly dynamic, profitable, healthy, happy and successful year ahead.